As the Rockets slump worsens, it’s not too late. But tonight is close to ‘must-win.’

Share this:

As much as it might seem that the Rockets’ shooting touch was sacrificed to the pressure of the playoff race, there is one bit of evidence that squashes the theory.

The Rockets were feeling no pressure when they came home from their four-game sweep of the road trip. They were on a roll and feeling great. Then they had their worst shooting game of the season, making 35.6 percent of their shots against the Jazz. They have not been much better since, with the problem bleeding into their defense.

Instead of defending with greater determination and discipline, they have indulged in moments of frustration. The Nuggets punished them for it.

That three-game shooting slump and the way it has diminished their play overall has dropped the Rockets to a shaky eighth in the West and elevated tonight’s rematch with the Nuggets to a virtual must-win.

Yet, when I asked Luis Scola about whether the pressure was taking a toll, he offered a pretty good glimpse into the sort of message I would imagine has made its way around the room. Scola usually has a pretty good feel for the way the Rockets are thinking. He also has become increasingly willing and effective at speaking up.

Basically, he said the Rockets have to persevere, but with a confidence that they can.

“At this point, there are a few things we have to keep in mind,” Scola said. “The first one is we are only six games away from the end of the season. There are some things that won’t be fixed in that amount of time. We will have our strengths and weaknesses. We won’t change those. We have to win with our strengths and deal with our weaknesses. We’re capable of that. We won 32 games. We are in the eighth spot right now. We are going to be able to do the things we can do right now.

“The other thing we have to keep in mind is we lost three games, we played bad, we played very bad, but it was a week ago we went to Los Angeles and Chicago and swept a four-game road trip. A week ago, we were sixth. We have some good things about the situation now. The bad thing is we’re playing bad. We have to play better. We’re not going to win games like this. But we are capable of playing better. We’re still eighth. We still have time. And we are capable of playing better.”

Well put. And true. They won’t play better just by saying that they can. And the situation is not great. After playing Denver again, they face the Mavericks and the suddenly resurgent Hornets on the road. After a game against the Warriors, they finish a stretch of six games in eight days at Miami, where the Heat have the league’s best home record.

They picked the wrong time for a losing streak and things won’t get easier. But we have been reminded of the past two weeks of the Jeff Van Gundy line: In the NBA, things go from good to bad and bad to good quickly.

For the Rockets, there is still time, but considering the schedule and the schedules of the teams giving chase, things better turn around beginning tonight.